Japan’s 300,000 International Student Plan The Asia-Pacific Sub-regional Preparatory Conference for the 2009 World Conference on Higher Education 24-26 September 2008 Macao, PR China Lrong Lim International Student Center Kagawa University, Japan Email: LRONGLIM@GMAIL.COM 09/25/2008

Flow of presentation Introduction The 300,000 student plan Scrutinizing the proposals Closing remarks 09/25/2008

Introduction Japan’s foray into international student hosting The 100,000 student plan How was it achieved? Remaining problems 09/25/2008

The 300,000 student plan Fukuda’s policy speech Some background to the plan Main aim: to host 300,000 international students by 2020, and to have 50% of the graduates working for Japan within Japan 09/25/2008

The 5 core proposals (1) The invitation to study in Japan (2) The improvements to entrance examination, enrolment, and immigration procedures (3) The globalization of Japanese universities (4) The enhancement of the hosting environment and related facilities, and (5) The promotion of social acceptance to international students after graduation. 09/25/2008

(1) The invitation to study in Japan Japanese version of British Council ‘image strategy’ through ‘one-stop centers’ abroad collaborations with non-Japanese universities Japan Student Fairs conducted offshore Japanese universities initiatives offshore offices of related ministries, the semi-public institutions, as well as the offshore laboratories and offices of Japanese universities 09/25/2008

(2) Improvements to entrance exam, enrolment, and immigration procedures Application and immigration procedures Enrolment procedures Housing applications All to be executed before student leaves for Japan 09/25/2008

(3) Globalization of Japanese universities ‘Global 30’ to be selected by 2010, whereby Up to 30% of staff are foreigners Top level courses & curricula Up to 30% of all classes in English At least 20% to be international students Ratio of graduate/undergraduate students 09/25/2008

(4) Enhancement of hosting environment & related facilities Provision of dorms for the first year of enrolment Semi-public institutions and private companies to lend helping hand Scholarship programs to be expanded Counseling for students and families in line for improvement 09/25/2008

(5) Promotion of social acceptance to international students after graduation 50% of international graduates to work for Japanese companies within Japan ‘Globalization of Japanese society’ Public, education, & private sectors to provide internships & job counseling Visa rules to be extended Attitude of Japanese firms to be more ‘accommodating’ 09/25/2008

Scrutinizing the proposals 09/25/2008

The invitation to study in Japan Two issues here… First, use of the internet to launch the so-called ‘image strategy’ to establish a ‘Japanese national brand’ Second, Japanese version of the British Council 09/25/2008

Improvements to entrance exam, enrolment, &immigration procedures Probably the easiest part of the whole proposal Presently, two types of student visas Shugaku visa and ryugaku visa 09/25/2008

Globalization of Japanese universities Three points of contention… 30% of the teaching staff being foreign Students taking courses conducted only in English Possibility of high caliber students primarily coming from outside of Asia 09/25/2008

Enhancement of hosting environment & related facilities Continuous acute shortage of appropriate student housing Private housing rentals remain expensive 09/25/2008

Promotion of social acceptance to international students after graduation Capacity, ability, and willingness of Japanese firms to hire international graduates Mismatch of graduates ability and skills needed to function in Japanese environment 09/25/2008

Rivals in neighborhood Concluding remarks Rivals in neighborhood Go-getter plan, but biggest obstacle revolves around the ‘use’ of foreign academicians in executing the plan 09/25/2008

Thank you for listening! 09/25/2008